The Future of Law Enforcement
"The Future of Law Enforcement" is the first episode of RoboCop: The Series. Plot A silver lining for Delta City OCP CyberSafe Concepts has announced the arrival of their latest innovations in the use of cutting edge technology in a far reaching project to automate Delta City's utilities and transportation infrastructure. MetroNet, located at Public Works, controls traffic so that transportation moves even more freely and at speed. Utilities are to be controlled from a central location and dispersed to schools, hospitals, and all manner of other locations. Law Enforcement can now more efficiently identify and apprehend criminals. The Chairman hopes this super-computer will power the city into better working future at less cost. This is all coming at a time of despair or many in the Dogtown slums of Old Detroit where a rash of disappearances by homeless people has been going on for nearly a month. Some people suspect that there is foul play involved. Henry "Hank" Aaron Winkler is the thirteenth victim of the serial killer that Mediabreak has come to call the Dogtown Ripper. A witness to the attack on "Old Hank" claimed that he was caught by some Dogtown Boys and that a man in a suit gave him a shot. He wasn't dead but that he didn't move and the attacker claimed they needed his brain for OCP. The Ripper is in fact OCP executive Chip Chayken who is harvesting the brains of these unfortunate people for use in the cybernetic interface of MetroNet called NeuroBrain. He uses a syringe filled with Tubocurarine Chloride, a neurological agent, to paralyze the victims so that they can go through the transplanting procedure alive. The evil scientist Dr. Cray Mallardo is the creator of MetroNet and NeuroBrain. He had submitted his ideas to the MIT Futureological Congress but they declined him siting ethical restrictions. Mr. Chayken has no such compunctions and urges Dr. Mallardo to complete NeuroBrain so that MetroNet will be online in time for the annual ShareWare Expo that OCP is hosting. NeuroBrain again fails when the brain of "Old Hank" dies under the stress of being responsible for the control of MetroNet. Desperate, the mad duo conclude that a young, healthy brain is required and decide to take it from Chip's secretary, Diana Powers. Meanwhile, escaped convict Pudface Morgan has taken hostages in the Old Detroit retirement home at Convalescence Services in a bid to lure is perceived nemesis RoboCop into a confrontation. RoboCop soon arrives on the scene only to have his police cruiser destroyed in a rocket attack. RoboCop disembarks the flaming wreck without even a scratch. He then reviews his prime directives and briefly consults with Sgt. Parks. To enter the building, RoboCop breaches a Securicard access door with one of his Tactical Ordinance charges set to level 3. Inside RoboCop uses thermographic imaging to locate the hostages. After a brief standoff Pudface was apprehended and the hostages were freed. Later RoboCop was tasked with returning Gadget, the witness who had claimed to have seen the Dogtown Ripper, to Family Services. There he discovers that not is all well and good at the OCP ran child care facility. Nancy Murphy is there to report that her son has ran away. Jimmy Murphy, also the son of the late Alex Murphy, has had a tough time dealing with the loss of his father. Fanny LaMour, the woman who runs Family Services with her assistant Edward Foster, is the worst kind of liar. She tells Nancy that she hasn't seen her son but in actuality she had already sent him to join the Dogtown Boys as part of an arrangement she has with Chip Chayken. Officer Lisa Madigan, RoboCop's partner, after recently passing her detective's examination has taken it upon herself to investigate the murder of "Old Hank". In the alley where he was abducted she finds a spent syringe cartridge and a recruitment flyer for the Dogtown Boys. Following the information on the flyer leads her to the closed down Ecoli Bros. Meatpackers plant where she witnesses the Dogtown Boys turn against one of their own prospective members. Before they can hurt the boy she announces her presence. The gang members quickly smash light bulbs and scatter but not before Lisa is able to tag one of them with a tracking round. After the commotion she investigates the scene and discovers the body of Hank Winkler hidden within a crate. In the morgue RoboCop and Officer Madigan learn that Hank was killed when his brain was removed. After discrediting the theory that it could have been part of a satanic ritual the Coroner tells them that it could have only been done by a surgeon. He goes on to explain that traces of a neurological agent were found in his bloodstream. This coincides with the chemical inside the syringe Madigan had found at the scene of the crime. RoboCop examines the body further and obtains incontrovertible proof that the last person to have seen Hank alive was Dr. Mallardo. With this evidence, RoboCop heads out to arrest the doctor. Upon connecting Diana's brain to MetroNet, Mallardo learns that the relentless cyborg officer is now on the case and coming to get him. In a panic he calls Chip to demand that he take care of the situation. Mr. Chayken uses his influence to remove Pudface Morgan from the Henry Ford Center for the Morally Challenged, convincing the Warden that OCP was experimenting with ways to rehabilitate criminals. Instead Pudface is armed with state of the art weaponry by Chayken and they set out to keep the doctor from going to prison. RoboCop arrives at Public Works first and goes in to arrest Mallardo. Inside Cray feigns ignorance and injury as he is being apprehended. Before he gets taken away in RoboCop's new Interceptor TurboCruiser, Morgan manages to ambush RoboCop and critically injure him with a single close-range attack from his 40mm armor-piercing Cobra assault cannon. Rest in peace RoboCop The next day, glossing over how Pudface had escaped yet again, Mediabreak finishes reporting on their "Death of RoboCop" story. Following that, news breaks that RoboCop had used excessive force when apprehending Dr. Mallardo. Video that Mallardo had staged shows him flailing about in supposed pain as RoboCop reaches out to take his arm. This was all part of a calculated move to discredit RoboCop so that repairs would be stalled and he would be left in cryostasis indefinitely. Chip Chayken personally sees to it that he will be left on ice by going down to Metro South himself. There, Lisa confronts him about why OCP won't pay to bring him back online. They argue. Madigan let slip that they had evidence on Hank's body in the morgue. Chip vigorously defends Dr. Mallardo's character and leaves to destroy that evidence. With the ShareWare Expo underway, OCP's Chairman finally unveils MetroNet to the world. Cray and Chip observe and deride the proceedings from Public Works in the NeuroBrain control room. Little do they realize that they are being observed by none other than Diana Powers. Her consciousness survived the transplantation and she manifests herself as a holographic projection. At the Expo, people are amazed by the innovation that MetroNet represents. Some companies had had prototypes themselves but were never able to solve their hardware issues. One person makes a joke to two others in an elevator about how she couldn't believe Mallardo could pull it off. With his ego bruised, Cray Z. Mallardo wastes no time in seizing control of his creation to do his evil bidding. With a simple command, the computer causes the elevator to drop. It falls freely to the ground floor where it kills the three occupants inside. Diana screams "Murderers!" and disappears, leaving both men to wonder if they are hearing things. With MetroNet a success, the Chairman summons Mallardo to his office to congratulate him. Mallardo shrugs off the generous gesture and gets right to the point, blackmail. He goes on to explain how MetroNet controls everything, that NeuroBrain controls MetroNet, and he controls NeuroBrain. He indicates that the deaths in the elevator were of his choosing and that he has the same kind of control throughout Delta City. Since he is in control de facto, he gives the Chairman an ultimatum of 36 hours to draw up papers to make his control legal legitimacy. The Chairman recoils at this and exclaims he would never allow an usurper to take away what it is he has fought so long to control himself. As Mallardo takes his leave he reminds the Chairman to take the stairs when he leaves. The next day Mr. Fraker, Vice President of Security Concepts tells the Chairman that MetroNet has invaded all of OCP's systems, locking all files, including financial control. If the company looks to outside help they're left with having to submit to the SEC and the wrath of their stockholders. Dr. Mallardo then confronts the executive board through the monitors on their boardroom wall. When one man gets up to shut off the monitors he is struck down by a power surge. Panic ensues and the board members all run for the elevator. Before the Chairman can warn them they are gone. Cray attempts to kill all of them at once but is prevented from doing so by Diana Powers. She has the ability to override Dr. Mallardo's malicious commands. The doctor turns to find Diana's holographic self staring him down. He is amazed that her consciousness has survived and marveled about how she was also controlling the whole city at the same time. When Diana realizes that her body has died and that she will never be able to get out of the machine she threatens to crash the whole system. Cray went on to describe the kind of chaos that would cause and continued to describe how she was responsible for maintaining life-support to all the babies in the city's hospitals. At Metro South Lisa Madigan has been busted down to traffic duty for the way she had confronted Chip Chayken days before. She tells Sgt. Parks that about the evidence linking Mallardo to the string of murders and how Chayken had so vigorously defended him. She then goes straight to the OCP Chairman to plead her case to get RoboCop back online, explaining that he has critical information that would convict Mallardo of the Dogtown murders. When he realizes that a felon can't legally run OCP he decides to let Mallardo think he has won. With RoboCop back on the case all their problems with Mallardo would be solved. With RoboCop going back online, Chayken runs to Mallardo who tells the other about the ghost still living in the system. They plot to purge her consciousness from NeuroBrain with a computer virus that uses a transcendental number to seek out and eliminate all nonessential data. Diana witnesses their scheming by lipreading the conversation between the two through a surveillance camera. The Chairman personally oversees the bringing of RoboCop online. It is a drawn-out process and Chip Chayken has time to sneak in and sabotage their efforts. When RoboCop finally awakens, they discover that he is suffering from amnesia. Not ready to give up, Madigan hits the streets to track down the Dogtown Boy she had tagged while Sgt. Parks heads over to Family Services to follow up a lead of his own. When he gets there he finds out what a dump the place is. Fanny tells him that Gadget is in bed and he would have to come back the next day. Stan happens to look over at the television to see that the little runaway has crashed onto the set of "What's on your mind? with Umberto Ortega" in order to blow the whistle on Fanny LaMour and what all she has done to the children of Family Services. Elsewhere, Lisa Madigan discovers the boy she had tagged previously was actually Jimmy Murphy. He tells her that the Dogtown Boys were after him for refusing to join their gang when a Family Services counselor had told him to seek them out. Diana, knowing the fate that awaits her if Dr. Mallardo can carry out his plan, contacts RoboCop for help. She discovers the tampering that is causing his amnesia and quickly takes care of the problem. RoboCop, with his memory restored and Cray Mallardo wanted for murder, heads for Public Works to save Diana. The Chairman witnesses the interaction between the two and is one of the very few who learns of Diana's new form of existence. The cyber attack on Diana deals Delta City a Class 5 Unusual Occurrence. City-wide, massive power failures leave the potential for looting. Sgt. Parks immediately orders all police units onto the streets. At Public Works the Dogtown Boys have been brought out to defend the building under the direction of Pudface Morgan. They have set up a barricade of flaming cars and other large debris. RoboCop arrives and promptly storms in. There is a protracted battle between the gang members and thier machine guns and RoboCop with his Auto 9. The one man arsenal easily manages to hold them all off until backup arrives. RoboCop has no difficulty breaking their line, even when Pudface uses heavy artillery. Pudface is swatted away with well placed Tactical Ordinance and RoboCop enters the building where he saves Diana in the nick of time by uploading into her his own anti-virus program. Dr. Mallardo, forgetting his own advice, tries to escape in the elevator where Diana gives him the ride of his life. Outside, Gadget identifies Chip Chayken as the Dogtown Ripper. Heedless of his protests of innocence, Madigan goes to place him under arrest. Before she realizes it, Chayken takes her hostage with one of his syringes of Tubocurarine Chloride. She is able to wrestle herself out of his grip causing him to inject himself in the process. He tries to run away but quickly becomes paralyzed just as he steps out into oncoming traffic. He falls down in the street right in front of the Chairman's limo, which had braked with just inches to spare. Mallardo is released from the elevator and the two of them are arrested and put into a PortaPerp with Morgan and the Dogtown gang members. OCP's Chairman laments the suffering of guilt that criminals must feel and excuses himself to once again run his company. Stan Parks tells Gadget he intends to adopt her so that she won't have to go back to Family Services. Nancy Murphy arrives on the scene and is reunited with her son. Lisa observes this reunion and suggest to her partner that it might be a good time for him to finally reveal his identity to his family. Knowing he can no longer be a father and husband he takes solace in knowing that he will be able to continue protecting them as RoboCop. Next Episode: Prime Suspect Trivia *The Future of Law Enforcement is based on the original, unused script for RoboCop 2 Category:RoboCop: The Series episodes Category:Television episodes